Balkan Rally day 2: From the mountains to the Vineyards!

‘Fabuleux!’ says Richard Oguez, after his first stage win in the Balkan Offroad Rallye with his new Side by side. His co-driver Delphine Delfino has little experience, but a lot of talent: ’It was exceptional, a very beautiful stage and for us a lot of fun. But it was also a long day, and hard to stay concentrated!’

The second stage today brought the competitors down to the Rhodopian Forests, a magnificent and majestic pine forest full of wildlife. Here the speed went up, with sandy tracks resembling those in Poland. Even the connection stages were special, with mountain roads, exceptional views and time to enjoy them!

The fastest Bulgarian teams are racing head to head, with Cholakov winning todays stage in his new Hilux. Metodi Paunov makes a fantastic second place in the classic Nissan Patrol, ahead of Desislav Slavchev, who is most careful. ’Remember, it is only the second day. Tomorrow or perhaps the day after tomorrow we will start with the real race!’

There is hope in this message from Desislav, at least for Frank Stensky from Germany. He was able to take the lead this morning but made mess of his results when he got stuck in a field. ‘I missed a turn, and we had no chance,’ he says. ‘Luckily Grünbeck arrived and helped us, but it was not our day!’

Racing with a pink Dacia, Patrycja Brochocka wins the stage in the ‘Car Limited’ category after a tough day behind the wheel. ‘I was fighting today, not to win but with myself. The Dacia doesn’t care about the long stages, but after so many kilometers in difficult terrain I had to push myself!’ The result is a sweet victory for the young driver!

On the motorbike, the battle is between Aidas Bubinas,  Frank Modl and Arunas Gelazninkas, three very different riders but equal in their love for the endurance. Aidas had his debut in the Rallye Breslau Poland, and Frank is an experienced rallyraid pilot, racing with a two-stroke motorbike. As the stages get faster, they demand a different approach and riding style, a challenge for the riders!

Tomorrow the Balkan Offroad Rallye stays in Starosel, for ust under 170km of special stage passing through beautiful mountain areas and fast tracks between the fields and vineyards. In order to win here, you have to be able to do everything!

Finishing just behind Jim Marsden, Francoise Hollender was one of the navigators who had to search for the right track in the first special. ‘It was exhausting, as we knew we would have to work had to reach the finishline before sunset. But in the second special we managed to make up for most of the lost time, even though we could not pass Jim on the final section towards the finishline!’

‘I cannot believe we managed to finish first,’ says James Ayre, co-driver of Jim Marsden. ‘Today we destroyed three tyres, and we did over 100 km of special stage on a flat rear tyre. When you floor it, the tyres holds some shape, but finally we finished on the rim. Can you imagine, we did the long rocky climbs, the winch sections and all the nasty stuff on this stage with a flat? I could not, before today!’

Part of racing is overestimating yourself, and when Bruno Mauro decided to descent at speed he flipped over and rolled his Suzuki proto at least three times. ‘Everything is bent, but we will work tonight to do all the repairs and start again tomorrow!’ Pointing at the front bumper: ‘It points forward, and there it grabbed. I don’t think we will start again with it!’

Fritz Becker made it 4 km into the stage, before loosing the entire rear axleshaft, including the rear wheel, the brakes etc. ‘It took us some time to the car out of the forest,’ says Otto, his co-driver. ‘Using wood from the forest we made a slider for the axle stub, and we were able to descent from the forest to the road. Here the team could pick us up. We have the parts, but the repair will take all night!’

The third stage of the Balkan Extreme stays close to Starosel, with a nice loop through the hills just north of the bivouac. ‘It will be another tough day,’ says Konstantin Panayotov from the organisation. ‘Some section scared even our roadbook team, it will be a true off-road stage tomorrow!’